In addition. Zapotosky makes several claims that are simply fake news or unproven. The biggest being “Trump already fired James B. Comey after the FBI would not give him a hard vow of loyalty, and he has toyed with ousting Attorney General Jeff Sessions despite Session’s vigorous implementation of the president’s agenda.”

The Washington Post reported on the day of Comey’s firing on May 09, 2017, “President Trump fired FBI Director James B. Comey on Tuesday, at the recommendation of senior Justice Department officials who said he had treated Hillary Clinton unfairly and in doing so damaged the credibility of the FBI and the Justice Department.” There is nothing in the story about a vow of loyalty. That claim was not reported until May 11, 2017, and while Cormey claimed the president told him “I need loyalty, I expect loyalty,” the President denied the claim and said he would testify Comey lied.

There is nothing in Zapotosky story noting that Democrats wanted Comey fired up to the time of the election or that Comey likely violated federal law by leaking confidential perhaps secret information to the media to maneuver the Special Prosecutor appointment.

Fairness and Journalism standards require a reporter to give the reader such information. In that way, the reader can decide whether Comey was acting out of loyalty to the country or vengeance for being fired. The reporter must entertain the possibility that Comey’s actions. which many on both sides of the political spectrum thought exceeded his authority, were grounds for the firing.

A journalist cannot decide who is telling the truth and Zapotosky and the Washington Post decided Comey told the truth without evidence.

Finally, the Washington Post in 2011 published a lengthy article about the Sarah Palin’s use of cross hairs on a map giving into now discredited claims by the left that Palin had somehow caused the shooting in Arizona that killed six attendees at a political rally and injured Representative Gabrielle Gifford. Interesting use of language in light of the Washington Post’s history of willingly playing along with the vilification of a political figure they disagree with over the use of cross hairs on a map.

Zapotosky is a Junk Journalist. The Washington Post’s newsroom, as are other newsrooms at major media outlets, is one of the least diverse places in the United States. For so-called reporters, Junk Journalism is required, and Amazon’s Jeff Bezos should include each day’s edition in the fiction section of Amazon’s bookstore.